Friday, May 1, 2009

Dating and Networking are Basically the Same Thing

I desperately want to blog about dating. About how dating is like networking, which is essential for any job, and networking makes you better at dating. About my personal experiences. Because you are better at small talk. And making people feel important. And asking the right questions. 

But, I also am afraid to say too much about people that I care about deeply but had not-so-great dating relationships with, to use as my real life examples (as I do with other topics) to illustrate a point. For some reason, people take their faults as daters very seriously. I think that I am immune to this but then again no one is blogging about dating me (that I know of). 

There are so many parallels to dating and networking, it is impossible to become better at one without being better at the other. And it is equally as impossible to become better at both without practice. 

In law school, I discovered that I have social anxiety. I didn't realize it before then, and I have no idea why because I have been doing social things since I was in first grade spelling bee. But I also noticed that dating became infinitely harder. Perhaps it is because there is so much more at stake.  Perhaps I developed some strange mental condition at the age of 21. Or perhaps, I am just human and some things are hard. 

Either way, I am working on it. And I would advise anyone who has bad luck dating to use networking tips, and vis-a-versa. Because the rules, oddly enough, are the same.

I would provide an example, but, of course, I am deathly afraid of offending the people I genuinely care about and love by telling an embarrassing or even just truthful dating story.